Tuesday, April 30, 2013

ROC Package

Well, it's finally been done. The ROC package has finally been sent! It ended up being around 2.5 inches thick and weighing in a little over 3 pounds. Instead of paying nearly $50 to overnight it to California, I decided to pay the $13 for it to arrive Thursday. Figured it was only one day longer.

Here are two pictures of the final package:

And follows is what was included in the package (in order):

-$590 check
-cover letter
-I-751 form
-copy of front and back of my green card
-copy of marriage certificate
-copy of joint tax return transcripts for 2010, 2011, 2012
-copy of lease agreement (2011 to present)
-copy of driver's licenses showing common address
-copy of first car insurance ID card with my name added
-copy of most recent statement for car insurance with both our names listed on the current policy
-copy of car title listing us both as owners
-copy of this year's benefits of my husband's through his employer listing me as a dependent as well as beneficiary of his life insurance
-copy of my living will, listing my husband as beneficiary
-copy of my husband's living will, listing me as beneficiary
-screenshot of our ISP account, listing us both as "users" (since only one name can be on the statements)
-screenshot from early 2011 on Verizon listing both our numbers (I initially had this for evidence for our interview in Canada)
-statement from late 2011 from Verizon listing the same two numbers
-statement from early 2013 from Verizon with my name listed in the In Care Of portion
-copy of my bank statements from 2011-2013
-copy of my husband's bank statements from 2011-2013
-copy of recent relationship change application at our bank making each other joint owners on our checking/savings accounts
-copy of bank account details for checking/savings account, listing both our names as joint owners
-copy of check submitted for payment showing both our names
-original affidavit from a couple that live about 2 hours away whom we visit every few months
-original affidavit from my husband's uncle and wife, whom we lived with for awhile, as well as his uncle being my teacher at school
-original affidavit from a couple that live in Minnesota (near the Canadian border!) that we see only about once a year, but speak to them online almost once a day
-copy of my college acceptance letter and unofficial transcript to show I've established here in town
-copy of 15 pictures (with captions) throughout our marriage, starting once I moved here

Definitely a good chunk of evidence. I am nervous about a few things though:

1. We only have this year's benefits of my husband's listing me as dependent/beneficiary, even though I was added when he first began working there in the summer of 2010. But my husband keeps like no records, and if he does, it's lost as he's not organized like me XD Plus, we're not on each other's health insurance plans. He has his own, and I had mine through my employer as it was only $40/month. Although, it recently ended at the end of March as I wasn't eligible for this year's as I wasn't working a high enough average of hours, so I'm currently without. But adding myself on his will cost I think he said an additional $100-200 per month. Which is ridiculous in my opinion as the only time I see a doctor is once yearly for a renewed prescription of birth control. And since it's only around $200 for that, it's almost better at this point to just save each month some money as an emergency fund. But, anyways, I digress!

2. Our living wills were only done (and signed) last week, so it may seem a little late for the reviewing officer.

3. We don't have our utilities, ISP, and phone statements in both our names, as they only allow one name for each. I did provide an explanation about this, so I'm hoping it's alright.

4. Our bank accounts were just made joint about 3 weeks ago. So, like the living wills, it may seem a little late. But for us, non-joint accounts worked for us. And I always helped pay some of the bills by just transferring the money to my husband's accounts as all the bills were already set up in his name and account before I moved here. I provided an explanation of this, but you never know with these people.

Anyways, the package has been sent and I know I should stop worrying as I won't hear anything back for quite a few months (like, end of the year). I've been following an April filers thread for ROC, and everyone (except for those that filed the very first few days of the month) is still waiting for their receipt notices. Which makes me a little antsy as my green card expires on May 12th, just under 2 weeks. Hoping CSC cleans up their act real soon. Because if I need to make an InfoPass appointment to get my passport stamped to extend my green card, I have to travel to Minneapolis, which is about a 6 hour drive away O_o

Alright, this is a long enough post, I'll stop typing now. I'll update once my package has arrived at CSC, once my check has been cashed, once I've gotten the receipt notice, once I've gotten the biometrics notice, and of course once I'm approved :)

Oh wow. I just posted a thread on VJ yesterday about some of the very same issues we will have that you have highlighted here (no joint bank account until recently, no joint bills.. we also don't have my name on our lease). I will be following your ROC journey with much interest.

Nope, didn't include A# or name on the evidence. That would have taken too long as I had hundreds of pages. Everything listed on the cover page was the same order as the package. That's sort of a must, otherwise the cover letter is sort of pointless if it's not in the same order.

This is ROC - Removal of Conditions. Since I was married less than 2 years when I did POE, I got a conditional green card which expires 2 years from POE. And to remove those conditions, you file for ROC.

I'm only eligible to apply for citizenship next year, although I won't be applying for it once I am eligible.